199 companies penalised over non-compliance with CSR norms

The Centre has accorded permission for initiating penal action against 199 companies for non-compliance of norms earmarked for fulfilling Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Minister of State (MoS) for Corporate Affairs, Law and Justice, P.P. Chaudhary said on Tuesday.

The minister, who was speaking in Rajya Sabha earlier in the day, said the action was initiated following non-compliance by nearly 200 companies with the provisions of section 134 (8) of the Companies Act, 2013.

The minister further clarified that the government had no proposal to review the state of implementation of the provisions of the existing Act related to CSR.

In November last year, Chaudhary, while addressing the 16th FICCI CSR Summit had lauded the Indian industry for not only providing expertise and management skills but also investing in the capacity building of youth and designing market-oriented skills through their CSR programmes.

"It is noteworthy that companies, through their CSR initiatives, are working on various issues plaguing today's youth such as health, water, environment, drug abuse, and livelihood woes," he said.